Public Employee Press

Bronx Zoo employee back at work after union wins arbitration case

An impartial arbitrator has ordered the Wildlife Conservation Society to reinstate an Assistant Maintainer who was illegally laid off from the Bronx Zoo in May 2009.

Ivonne Lopez returned to her job in the Horticulture Dept. in June with full back pay, benefits, 401(k) and seniority for the time she was unemployed.

"Those months out were really, really bad, but having my job back has been incredible," said Lopez.

"This is a victory for Local 1501," said President Robert Herkommer. "Lopez was wrongfully terminated without regard to her seniority." DC 37 Rep Wendell Reid pressed her grievances through Step 3, which were denied, so DC 37 took the case to arbitration.

"We had a workable relationship with WCS until a recent change in management," said Chris Wilgenkamp, assistant director of the White Collar Division.

Hired in 2005, Lopez maintains zoo grounds, removing snow and cleaning weeds and debris around exhibit buildings in the Horticulture Dept. Her work is similar to Assistant Maintainers in the Maintenance Dept., which the arbitrator said was significant since Lopez was fired while an Assistant Maintainer with less seniority was kept.

"All ground care positions are considered the same occupational group," testified Division Director Mike Riggio, who helped craft the contract when he was local president. His testimony convinced the arbitrator, who ordered WCS to bring Lopez back.

"We thought we might lose a member, but thankfully the Assistant Maintainer was not bumped since another worker had retired. So neither member lost their job," said Herkommer. "It's a double victory."

"I am ecstatic to have my job back and grateful to my union for sticking by me and fighting for my rights," said Lopez.

"In times of layoff, employers who proceed without appropriate union input on seniority-related issues," DC 37 attorney Alan Brown cautioned, "do so at their peril."